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Legislative Requirements

When applying for the establishment of a school under S156, the minimum criteria to be met are defined in the Act, that is:

There are parents of at least 21 students who want such a school;
The parents have provided clearly written aims, purposes and objectives for the school;
The character of the school is in some way different from that of an ordinary state school, and that parents cannot conveniently get education of such a character from another state school; and
The proposed education is desirable.

These criteria should be a primary consideration, and a logical first step in the process.

Other Information Required for a Decision

In addition to meeting legislative requirements, other considerations will be required.

Other information required includes:

a summary description of the proposed school, including its special character, intended student population, expected size, proposed curriculum, intended property provision, planned sources of income, and financial position;
an assessment of the need for a new state school in the area;
the additional cost of providing a new state school, taking into account the extent to which current and future students can be catered for by the existing network of state schools;
the impact of the new school on the existing network of schools;
the extent to which the proposed school meets the Governments educational goals;
anticipated medium term demand for the new school; and
a risk assessment of the future operation of the school to provide a reasonable assurance that the school will be well governed, financially viable, will provide high quality educational programmes, and meet minimum Government requirements for state schools.

The report would need to make explicit the costs and benefits of the proposed state school, so that Ministers are fully aware of the tradeoffs involved in deciding to either agree, or decline, an application.